Do you depend on your computer for your living? If so, I'm sure you've thought long and hard about which hardware and software to use. I'd like to explain why I use generic "white boxes" running open source software. These give me a platform I rely on for 100% availability. They also provide a low-cost solution with excellent security and privacy.

Does it occur to you that the technology suitable for you and you mother is not optimal on a larger scale? In fact, small scale solutions rarely scale up. For example building model airplanes is totally unlike building a 787. Building a hot rod is not like building 5000 Fords a week. Do you have any idea what it takes to deploy and support tens of thousands of systems across the world in multiple languages with hundreds of printers and peripherals from dozens of manufacturers. Red Hat of course claims to support this type of environment but then you a just trading a little Microsoft for the big one.